School Daze
by A. X. Zanier
Summary: There's mischief afoot at an all girls academy and the Agency is called in to help. Part of the Alyx Silver Altiverse.
1. Chapter 1

Author: A. X. Zanier

Title: School Daze

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own the character or basic story premises to "The Invisible Man." Any additional characters or premises are mine, mine, mine.

Timeline: After _Judgement Day_

Comments: Due to the need for major rewrites I'm skipping over several stories and posting a few of the later A.S. fics. This takes place well after the events in the Deceptions/Aftermath/Homecoming trilogy, which I will indeed post eventually, once I've fixed the buggers. If you feel the need to read the original versions *shudder* you can find them at the IMFanfic Yahoo!Group.

Original post: Uh, somewhere back in the stone ages of I-Man at IMFanfic.

A huge thanks to Rebecca (Workercaste/OneEyeDRD) for being a wonderful Beta.

School Daze

__

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you haven't really learned anything." 

Mohammad Ali

"No way. You are not making me do this." Alyx was shaking her head and glaring at the Official at the same time.

Darien and Bobby looked at each other, then back at her.

"What's the big deal, kid?" Hobbes asked, perhaps a tad foolishly.

She turned on him. "The big deal is that he wants me to play a sixteen-year-old in an all-girl private school. That's the big deal." By the end she was nearly shouting and holding onto her temper by a very, very slim thread. Claire might have declared her fit for duty, but she was still having problems. It was still a struggle. Every day she got through was a victory, for all of them.

None of them spoke again until she had herself back under control. It took several long minutes.

"This is why Claire declared me fit for duty, isn't it?" Her shoulders had slumped and she sounded tired.

"Yes. This one has been waiting for you to return to something vaguely resembling normal, but there has been another death. And it was most certainly not an accident this time. We need your help." Eberts kept his tone of voice very calm, knowing that she could and would react to the slightest thing.

"Just read the file. Come back when you're done," the Official said gruffly.

She nodded and took the file from Eberts. Without looking at either of her partners, she left for her own office. There, hopefully, she could regain some control.

"She's not ready," Darien said once she had left.

The Official sighed. "I know, but we have to move on this now. We have over a dozen very powerful families being blackmailed and two very dead girls. I pulled some really big strings to get this job. Never mind the fact that she is pretty much the only one in any agency who might be able to pull this off." He looked to Eberts.

"Other agencies, including the FBI, local, and state police have become involved because of the deaths, but because of the blackmail it is being kept as quiet as possible." He paused, handing the two agents copies of the file. "The threat appears to be real. If you'll look at the photos you'll notice all the girls are unconscious."

Both Darien and Hobbes looked over the pictures with frowns.

"Their families don't dare even remove them from the school for fear of retaliation. It has been implied by the blackmailers that there are even more _revealing_ pictures that are being kept for later use," the Official added. "Most of the girls involved don't even know their families are being blackmailed."

"The families would like it to remain that way so that the girls suffer the least amount of trauma." Eberts finished

Darien looked up from the file he'd been skimming over. "Not know? How could that be?"

"Whatever they are being drugged with also wipes their memories. They wake up the next day feeling a bit ill and that's all." the Official explained.

"Sounds like roofies or GHB." Hobbes commented.

"Yes it does. The two who died were tested. One had an allergic reaction to something. We suspect it was the drug, but it is not a known substance." Eberts told the two men. "The other was killed by a blow to the head. We suspect she saw something she shouldn't and was killed because of it."

"The Keeper is working on the blood samples, trying to figure out exactly what the substance is," the Official added.

"But Alyx..." Darien began.

"Will not be alone," Eberts interrupted. "You will both be at the school as temporary instructors. Arriving after she has established herself."

"The two of you should be able to help keep her balanced." The Official looked at Darien. "Especially you, I suspect."

Darien said nothing. It wasn't like the relationship was a secret anymore, but they did try their best to keep the Official from using it against them.

Alyx came back into the room and said, "I still don't like this, but I'll do it." She walked across the room and stopped before the desk. "We need to make some changes to my profile, though."

The Official nodded. '_Good_,' he thought, '_she's starting to think like an agent again.'_

* * *

"Hey, Callie. Wait up."

Callie paused and turned back to see who was calling her. It was her roommate, Frances.

"Whatcha need, Frankie?" Callie asked the girl as she moved alongside and they began to walk.

"Help with Lit. That Mr. Fawkes is gonna kill me. Thank god he's only here until Mr. Thompson gets better." Frances sighed. "He may be a hunk, but he's tough."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you took notes during class instead of drooling over the teach you wouldn't be having so much trouble."

Frances giggled. "But then class wouldn't be nearly as much fun."

"Frankie, I'd tell you to get a life, but you're not likely to find one at this school." They walked outside and into the garden behind the school. "I've got gym with that new guy. Hobbes. I'm so not looking forward to another afternoon of dainty, proper badminton."

Frances smiled. "I know something you don't know," she said in a sing-song voice.

"What now?" Callie complained.

Frances only laughed. "You better hurry or you'll be late." She ran off through the garden towards her next class while Callie turned to the left to head for the gym.

She was late, but that was nothing new. She made a point to be late for the classes that annoyed her.

The new instructor glared at her when she finally appeared. "Miss Borden, so kind of you to join us."

Callie didn't react. She looked about the gym, noticing the decided lack of boring, dainty girl equipment. She also noted the plethora of mats on the floor and the padded gear lying stacked in neat piles. She wondered what was going on.

"All right, girls. For the next few weeks you're going to get a crash course in self-defense. By the time I'm through with youse, you will be able to deal with pretty much any hand-to-hand situation, from a mugger to a boy who gets a bit too friendly with ya," Hobbes barked at them like a drill sergeant. Which he formerly was, or claimed to be anyway.

The girls shuffled their feet a bit and looked at one another in surprise.

"Miss Borden, I've read your transcript. Based on what I read, I would guess you have some idea of how to defend yourself. Front and center." He stood with his hands on his hips waiting for her.

Callie sighed and joined Hobbes on the mats. "You really don't want to do this."

"Girl, I suggest you shut yer mouth and prepare to defend yourself." He settled himself into a defensive posture and waited for her to do the same.

She did, sort of. It was the lazy man's version. Not that it mattered as he didn't intend for her to get settled and went after her with several basic punches and kicks that she blocked easily. A few moments later, Hobbes found himself looking up at her from the floor.

She offered her hand to help him up, which he accepted.

"Not bad. Looks like yer rich daddy may have gotten his money's worth for yer lessons," he said as he once again settled into position.

"My rich daddy, who is paying your salary by the way, has been seeing that I've had lessons since I was three. I can guarantee he got his money's worth," Callie responded, just standing there, looking at him.

Hobbes raised his eyebrows at her. "We'll see."

For the next several minutes they fought back and forth across the mats, much to the shock and amusement of the other girls. They all had figured out Callie was a bit different, but now... well they weren't sure what to think.

Hobbes had closed with her and whispered into her ear. "If you don't let me drop you, I'll never be able to prove my point with these girls, kid."

"All right, Hobbsey. I'll fake a right and you can toss me, okay." Callie whispered back.

"Sounds good, kid." he agreed.

They broke apart and she faked a right allowing him to catch her arm and toss her over his shoulder. When she was on the floor he tagged her with a chop to her throat that would have effectively put her out if it had been real. This time he offered her a hand up.

"Good job, Borden." He waved her back to the group of girls and then addressed them as a whole. "That is what you can achieve after years of practice." He gave a small bow in Callie's direction. "I'm just hoping to teach you girls the basics. Now, how many of you have any martial arts experience?"

Three girls, aside from Callie, raised their hands. He pulled them out of the group and began testing them to see how much they knew.

"Callie, where did you learn that stuff?" Jenny asked her.

Several other girls huddled around to hear the answer.

"Like I said to Sarge over there, my dad's had me taking lessons since I was three." Callie sighed. "It's no big deal. It's part of what my dad does anyway."

"Why'd you end up at this school, anyway?" Tricia queried.

"You really want to know?" Callie asked of them.

The entire group nodded.

"Okay. At my last school I beat the crap out of the star quarterback when he tried to rape me." The entire group sucked in a breath. She paused to let that sink in. "His daddy and the school admin thought that, since he was so much more _valuable_ to the school than I was, perhaps I should have just let him have what he deserved. Namely me," Callie explained in disgust.

"You're kidding?" Sandi sounded shocked. "And they tossed you for that?"

"No. They tossed me because I decked his daddy when he made the comment," Callie said with a wry grin.

The group of girls all looked properly shocked for a moment, then burst out laughing.

Hobbes looked over at the group of girls standing around Alyx and shook his head. And she thought she wouldn't fit in. Sheesh, in another week she'd be running the school.

Callie's last class that day was with Mr. Fawkes, which was cool. It wasn't like she had to put a whole lot of effort into the class, and he was pretty relaxed about the whole thing. The girls were allowed to sprawl pretty much where they wanted in the room. Most of the desks were shoved against the rear wall, leaving most of the floor empty. The girls lazed about wherever they felt comfortable; as long as they paid attention, he didn't much mind. He even let her sit in the windowsill.

She was staring out the window across the expanse of grass and garden that was behind the school. She really wished they didn't have bars over the windows, but at least they were set out somewhat so that the windows could still be opened, as they were now.

She sat with her head leaning against the window frame, allowing the voices of the girls reading to wash across her senses, soothing her tired mind. She'd known this was going to be difficult. She'd known she was going to hate this, she just hadn't realized how much. She'd been here nearly two weeks now, establishing herself and waiting for the guys to show so that she could actually get down to work. Not that she'd been sitting around doing nothing. She'd checked out this place as much as she could. Raided the computer system, checked out all the power systems, done just about everything short of reading the minds of every person here, and she had found nothing.

Nothing.

And she was quickly going nuts because of it.

Darien had also tuned out the girl who was speaking. It was the third rendition of Hamlet's soliloquy in this class alone and it was definitely not the most impressive. He and Hobbes had arrived on Monday, nearly two weeks after Alyx, and although she looked like she had blended right in, he could tell this was far harder on her than anyone could have expected. Hell, it was harder on him than he had thought it would be. If he had known what this place looked like, he would have given serious consideration to rebelling against this job. This place was stirring up way too many memories that he had tried to push into a far corner of his mind and forget.

His attention snapped back to the class as he realized that the young lady had finally finished. He gave her a nod and she sat back down.

"Miss Borden, care to share your choice with us?" he requested of her.

She didn't move. Just continued to stare out the window as she recited her choice.

__

"No longer mourn for me when I am dead

Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell

Give warning to the world that I am fled

From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:

Nay, if you read this line, remember not

The hand that writ it; for I love you so,

That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot,

If thinking on me then should make you woe.

O, if, I say, you look upon this verse,

When I perhaps compounded am with clay,

Do not so much as my poor name rehearse,

But let your love even with my life decay;

Lest the wise world should look into your moan,

And mock you with me after I am gone."

She turned to look at him then. "Sonnet Seventy-one."

He raised he eyebrows at her and made his first comment of the entire class. "Interesting choice."

The bell rang then, interrupting anything else he might say.

"Remember, reports are due Monday." Darien reminded them, as the girls began to gather their stuff together to leave. "Miss Borden, please stay a moment."

That comment earned a round of giggles and 'oooohs' from everyone else that Callie ignored. She waited until everyone had left before even bothering to stand up. "Whatcha need, Mr. Fawkes?"

"A vacation," he muttered. "How are you adjusting?" He leaned back against the desk stuffing his hands in his pockets. Asking her a question from halfway across the room was not what he wanted to do. What he wanted to do involved much closer contact and preferably a decided lack of clothing, but neither of them had much of a choice. So he stayed where he was and she stayed where she was.

She shrugged. "Well enough I guess." Bending down she picked up her books and stuffed them into her backpack and then slung it over her shoulder.

She looked so odd to him in the school uniform, which she of course wore with her own sense of style. Hiking style boots, white socks, then the horrid blue, green, and yellow tartan skirt. The top was a plain white shirt with tartan collar to match. She had failed again to tuck in the shirt and also had failed to button about half the buttons. The other teachers had given up trying to convince her to wear the clothes properly. She was technically following the dress code, as she had proven by not only quoting it word for word, but by holding the book open to the exact page for them to read.

After that, she got away pretty much with anything on the uniform front. Several other girls had taken to copying her, much to the dismay of the administration.

"What about that special project you've been working on?"

Callie walked over to stand in front of him. "Nothing. No luck whatsoever and I don't like it at all."

He nodded. That's pretty much what they had expected, since she had not contacted anyone before he and Hobbes' arrived. Lowering his voice he whispered, "We need to talk."

She nodded in agreement. Boy did they, and for more reasons than just the job at hand.

*_Meet me at The Tree tonight, an hour before first bed check_,* she sent into his mind.

"We done?" she asked, dancing a little in place. Being near him, practically alone, was not easy at the moment.

"Yeah, we're done. Al...." he began.

"Callie, Mr. Fawkes. Calinda Borden, remember?" She gave him a smile. *_I've missed you, Dare.*_

He felt her emotions wash across his mind and sighed. *_Me too_.* he sent back. Then, "Off to your next class, Callie. You wouldn't want to be late."

"No class. Done for the day, but thanks." Callie laughed and bounced out of the room. *_Smart-ass_.*

He shook his head and laughed for a moment. Then he turned to greet the next group of girls who'd been waiting patiently in the hallway for him to finish.

Callie made her way down the hall and through the doors into the dormitory wing of the school. She jogged to the staircase and went up one floor, heading for the room she shared with Frances. She paused, leaning over the railing to see what if anything was going on in the common room down on the ground floor. There were two floors of dorm rooms that overlooked the common area and library far below.

The school was three large buildings set in the shape of half a hexagon. The two side buildings angled out from the main building. The main building contained both the adult and student dormitories, divided by the main entrance area that contained the administrative offices, infirmary, housekeeping, and some storage. The building to the right housed classrooms on the top two floors and the cafeteria on the ground floor. The building to the left also had classrooms on the top two floors, but had the gym and pool on the ground floor.

The common areas on both sides were accessible to the students, both for general relaxation and study purposes. The teachers and administrators had their own private common area on their second floor. The classrooms could be accessed both from inside the buildings as well as from the outside in the courtyard and garden area. Out beyond the buildings were a number of sports fields. Beyond that was a general recreation area, which included The Tree.

Callie sighed and dove into her room, dumping her backpack on her bed. Her classes were done for the day and she fully intended to relax for a while. Her version of relaxing, anyway. She changed into a pair of official school shorts and a T-shirt, then zipped a sweatshirt over it. She'd already completed her homework, as well as her larger assignments for the week. Here they went to school six days a week, two of which were half days and had required study time. She tended to blow off the study time, however, in favor of trying to keep her mind in one piece.

She left the room without seeing Frances, who was her assigned senior. Seniority was based on time at the school rather than by grade, which is why Frances, who was only a sophomore, was paired with Callie who was a junior. They were also paired in the hopes that Frances' quieter disposition would have a calming effect on Callie's rather boisterous and brash personality. The opposite was occurring, however, as Callie was bringing 'Frankie' out of her shell. Frankie had discovered from Callie that being smart didn't mean you had to be quiet and bookish. You could be smart and still have fun, lots of fun.

Callie made her way downstairs, sliding down the banisters until she reached the ground floor. She made her way through the various stacks and game areas until she found one with a TV no one was watching and turned it on to catch an early news cast. She sat sideways in the overstuffed chair, her legs swinging as she watched the room about her.

Her inability to determine what was going on at this school was really beginning to bother her. Only one girl had turned up sick since she had arrived, and that had been a legitimate virus. Nothing else. She'd broken into the admin offices on two separate occasions and found nothing suspicious there. She found no hidden audio or video devices. Nothing overly unusual in the infirmary. The only thing she hadn't done, and wanted no part of doing, was reading the minds of the people here. The stuff she couldn't filter out was bad enough.

Her personal nickname for this place was 'hormone hall'. Stick several hundred adolescent girls together in one building, provide them little or no male distraction except the occasional cute teacher, and you get a whole lot of girls all thinking about the same few guys. Throw someone who is both an empath and telepath, of sorts, into the mix and... Poor Callie, who never slept well anyway, was having an even worse time of it here, and since Mr. Fawkes had arrived things had become worse. She'd been very careful about touching other people and tried to avoid touching skin on skin if she could avoid it.

When Frances stepped up behind her, she knew about well beforehand. "Callie, heard you had a good time in Lit. Mr. Fawkes asked you to stay behind." She had squatted down next to the chair, smiling. "Lucky you."

Callie shrugged. "He just wanted to know how I was fitting in. He seemed to find my recitation choice a bit odd."

"I told you he would," Frances said. "About Lit?"

"I'll help you after dinner, okay Frankie?" Callie almost pleaded.

Frances nodded. "No problem." She looked about the room. "Listen, I heard that Miriam and Witch Hazel are looking for you. Seems you keep avoiding their little initiation. Be careful. They apparently had a bad time with Sarge Hobbes today." She laughed quietly. "He apparently put them in their place. They tried to live up to your example from earlier and failed."

Callie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Thanks Frankie. I'll be careful. Pick a comedy for Lit."

Frances looked surprised. "Comedy? I was going to pick a historical."

Callie looked at her. "Trust me. You'd do the historical just fine, but you'll be great with the comedy."

Frances tipped her head a bit. "I always did like _Comedy of_

Errors," she mused. "All right. I'll try it. See you at chow time, roomie." She got to her feet.

"Later." Callie watched the room for a few more minutes and then shut off the TV and headed for a set of French doors that led out into the courtyard. If Miri and Haze were after her, she wanted to meet them on her terms, not theirs.

Ah, the joys of high school.

Callie wandered out by the kitchen garden, where there were few people and plenty of open space. She liked coming out here by the herb and vegetable garden to do her katas and yoga. The scents were soothing and very few others hung out around here. Too close to the buildings, she guessed. So she had the place pretty much to herself as she centered herself and began to move slowly through her routine. She let the voices, minds, and emotions of those around her slide past her senses. Only then was she able to isolate her own emotional state, which was still pretty darn erratic even by her standards, from the surrounding noise.

These last couple of weeks hadn't been easy. Losing herself to the part she had to play, while still having to be little miss secret agent. It was hard. She hated lying to the girls, especially those that were becoming her friends. Or Callie's friends, anyway.

Callie was fitting in just fine, causing trouble as expected, but doing okay. And that was part of the current problem; until Callie had arrived, Miri, Haze and their little crew had pretty much run the show here after hours. Callie had changed that, had upset that delicate balance of bully and bullied. Callie had collected herself a group of followers that she hadn't even been seeking, and they had begun ignoring the _rules_ that Miri and Haze had set down.

She hadn't planned it. She'd just been herself. Well, herself as a trouble-making, smart-assed teenager. Something she hadn't been the first time around in high school because she'd been so much younger than her classmates. She'd had friends, back then, but not like this. There was too much of the adult in her to let go completely, which left her seeming a bit aloof to the other girls. She had the feeling that was part of their attraction to her. She joined in the fun, but did it from a point slightly above the, to her, simple games.

When Miri and Haze finally showed up she was more than ready for them. Centered and calm. Which was good for them. If she were in one of her moods, she might take them apart with a thought, and that would be _bad_.

"Well if it isn't little Miss Teacher's Pet herself," Miri sneered.

Callie ignored Miriam and continued her routine.

"Not just one, but two. Apparently the new teachers have a thing for tiny redheads with funny looking eyes," Haze added.

Callie continued to ignore them, or at least appeared to. She was actually paying very close attention to what they were doing.

"She appears to be deaf as well as stupid," Miri commented to her cohort.

"Quite. Either that or she simply does not realize the amount of trouble she is in," Haze tossed back to her partner.

Both girls stood at least six inches taller than dainty-looking Callie, and both had made a point of spreading their version of brutality around for a couple of years. They had become very adept at causing trouble and either not getting caught or getting the blame placed elsewhere. Usually on the person they were currently targeting. That's what they were trying now. They were hoping to egg Callie into taking the first swing. To get her so angry she'd simply attack without thinking. If Callie had been a somewhat insecure sixteen-year-old, feeling somewhat out of place at a new school, it might have worked, but she wasn't. They were dealing with someone - _something_ -- they could never hope to understand.

Miri and Haze were both getting angry and had begun to yell various insults at Callie, who still ignored them. They were attracting attention. Heads were sticking out of class and dorm room windows to see what the ruckus was all about. Several teachers were watching carefully as well.

Miri gave in to her anger first and went after Callie with a simple punch to the chin. Callie dodged by leaning backwards, allowing the fist to slide past her face with inches to spare. The girl screeched in anger and charged the smaller girl. Callie simply stepped aside and let her go flying right past.

Callie decided to pay attention then. "One warning. Stop or I will stop you."

Both of the larger girls laughed. Nasty, angry laughs. Within moments, there was an audience forming a wide circle about them. "Like we're afraid of your tiny ass. Get real."

Haze came at her from the side, and once again Callie simply moved and let her rush by. The two girls looked at each other and came at her together this time. It was obvious that they had used this tactic before. Hazel moved to the right and Miriam to the left. Callie forced herself to relax and wait for them to make their move. When it came, it was pretty predictable. Miri went for the hair, while Haze tried to keep Callie's hands busy with a few halfway decent punches that were easily blocked. Haze threw one too many and Callie ducked at the perfect time.

Ignoring the pain as her hair was nearly ripped out, she went to her knees, letting Hazel's fist connect with Miriam's chin. In shock, Miriam let go, allowing Callie to roll out from between them.

She ended up near the herb garden and was momentarily distracted by the scent of the herb sitting directly before her. It was eerily familiar, and from a very recent adventure of hers.

The distraction lasted a bit too long. She felt herself being dragged upright by her hair and facing a very angry Miri. Miriam's lip was bleeding; she'd bitten it when Haze hit her.

"You little bitch. I'll teach you to take your medicine." Miri pulled back her arm, taking aim on Callie's face. Callie just looked at her without fear.

"I warned you." Callie said quietly.

When the fist came forward, she moved her head to the side, grabbed Miri by the forearm and twisted, dumping her over her shoulder and onto the ground. She got to her feet and went into a full defensive posture waiting for Hazel to make her next move. It didn't happen. Hazel was being held in place by the collar of her shirt by Headmistress Adams. Callie backed away from Miri, relaxing her posture.

Mr. Yothers, one of the math teachers, walked over and helped Miriam to her feet, but didn't release her once she was upright. He simply changed his grip to her upper arm.

"Who started this?" The headmistress asked of the crowd that had gathered about to watch the show.

Almost as one, the crowd implicated Miri and Hazel, some even adding the 'witch' appellation to her name.

The headmistress nodded. "So, we finally caught you in the act. Good thing I have your expulsion papers ready for my signature." She turned Hazel over to another teacher, who joined Mr. Yothers in escorting the two girls to the Headmistress' office. She walked over to Callie and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for your restraint, Miss Borden. I'll need to speak with you later about this, but I assure you, you are not in any trouble over this matter."

"No problem, Headmistress Adams," Callie responded with some relief. She was just glad she hadn't been forced to take it any further. She could have done serious harm to the girls if her temper had suddenly decided to go.

Hobbes pushed his way through then. "Aw right, break it up. Some of youse still have classes to attend." Once the crowd began to move, he walked over to Callie. "Good work, kid. Now make yourself scarce for a bit."

She nodded and after a moment she walked over to the garden and picked a couple leaves off one of the plants. Looking back at Hobbes she gave him a wink and then headed for the building. Now was looking like a good time to hide in her room for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

*Part 2*

Alyx stood at the base of The Tree, a monster Bay Laurel, looking up into its branches and trying to shed the day's pressures and worries from her mind. The worst thing was that most of them weren't hers. Alyx began climbing the tree. As she climbed, she let the events of the afternoon drift through her mind. About an hour after the fight, she'd been escorted to the Headmistress' office to give her version of the events and sign an official complaint against the two girls. They would be gone by the morning and were confined to a room down in the infirmary until their parents arrived.

Dinner had been interesting. She usually sat with a group that she had become 'friends' with, but other girls came over all through dinner to thank her for standing up to Miri and Haze. The two bullies had been terrorizing some of these girls for years. Callie just shrugged and kept saying it was no big deal. By the time the meal was over, she was eager to get out of there and go help Frankie with her report.

It drove Frankie a bit nuts that Callie could recite the entire play from memory. It made the task easier, though, as they didn't have to go hunting back in the book every fifteen seconds for more information. Eventually Frankie ended up with an oral report she was more than happy with. In fact, when she'd tested it out on a few volunteers down in the common room, she'd had them rolling on the floor in laughter. Callie didn't say I told you so; she was just glad that Frankie was happy. The girl was a natural comedian, with timing that would impress veterans in the business. She'd simply never realized it.

As she made her way higher, she allowed the Callie persona drop away and her own identity to resurface. By the time she reached the height she wanted, she was feeling much more like herself. The school sweats and T-shirt were just right for this gorgeous weather. For long minutes she did nothing but listen to the breeze in the branches and breathe in the wonderful scent of the tree as she waited for Darien to show up. Poor Dare, the nightmares had begun the first night he was here. She knew they were his because the school itself didn't bother her at all and it was the building itself that was driving his nightmares. There were days and nights she really wished they were not as close as they were, but it wasn't like she could control it. Not that she really minded. Even with the addition of his problems to her own, she was very, very glad he and Hobbes were finally here.

She had been worried that she might be losing what little hold she had on herself. With all of her recent identity problems, having to go so deep into a new persona was risky. Somehow, though, she had held onto herself. During the day she was Callie; at night Alyx was allowed to come out and get to work on the problem at the school. She just wished she'd been able to do more in the two weeks she'd been here. Only today, with the discovery of the interesting herbs in the garden, did she finally think she might be on to something. She needed to do a bit more research first.

Darien walked across the grass behind the school heading for The Tree. Yep, capital letters and everything. It deserved them. The beast was huge. The trunk alone was nearly ten feet in diameter and some of the lower branches were more than wide enough to comfortably walk on and dipped so low to the ground that climbing was a simple matter of stepping up, with little or no effort.

Quite a few of the girls would sit under its spreading branches to do homework, eat their lunches, or to just simply be. The branches of the tree were thick enough that you could easily climb twenty or thirty feet up into it without fear. He'd seen Alyx out here on more than one occasion in the last week. Perched high in the tree, school books hung in a bag rigged to a branch within easy reach. Looking at her in that horrid school girl uniform, one could easily forget that there was a grown woman hiding in there. And a dangerous one at that.

At night The Tree took on a magical, mysterious quality that was emphasized by the nearly overwhelming scent of its leaves. When the wind was just right you could smell it throughout the entire school. He ducked under a branch and began looking for Alyx. She should be here somewhere.

"Alyx?" he called into the semi-darkness.

"Here." Her voice was faint, coming from somewhere far above his head. He was craned his head back, but was still unable to see her.

"Oh, right. You know I can't see in the dark." he complained.

A peal of laughter was his reply. "Sorry." There was an obvious pause. "Let's see if I can do this."

Her voice was soft, wafting along the night air without disturbing it. A moment later an eye-searing bright light appeared, causing him to turn away and curse softly under his breath.

"Sorry about that. Haven't quite perfected it yet," she called down to him.

Once the spots inside his eyelids faded, Darien looked back up. The tree was now bathed in a blue light that seemed to be emanating from Alyx's hand. She was sitting about three-quarters the way up in the tree, looking at ease parked in the crook of two branches.

"I am not climbing that high," he said, moving to the nearest branch he could reach.

She snorted with laughter. "Chicken."

"Healthy respect for living is more like. You young 'uns is welcome to climb up that high if you like, but us old folk will stay closer to the ground." He climbed about a third of the way up, to a point where a massive bowl had been formed by the divergence of a dozen or so branches. There was more than enough room for him to sprawl with reasonable comfort.

He tipped his head back to watch her clamber down towards him with that easy grace he had come to know so well. She stopped, still holding that glowing sphere, just above him. Her feet hung down on either side of the branch that she had chosen to lie back on. If he raised his hand just a bit he would be able to grasp her foot as she swung it back and forth.

"Do you need the light anymore?" she asked, turning her head to look at him.

Darien shook his head. "How do you do that, anyway?"

"It's similar to ball lightning. I just focus one of my sparks into a ball and keep feeding it. Presto, portable light." She let it dim and go out, leaving him blind for a moment.

"If we get caught out here..."

"I'll know if someone's coming. I'll quicksilver and you'll lie." He could hear the smile in her voice.

His sight was adjusting; he could just make out the gray of her sweats and T-shirt on the branch above him. "What news do you have?"

"You tell me. I'm getting tired of not sleeping because of your nightmares." She wasn't accusatory. The concern was obvious. "Why does this place cause you so much pain?"

Darien sighed and looked down at his hands. "You've been picking that up?"

"Uh, huh. I'm feeling a bit out of place here. I thought it was bad when I went to high school the first time. This is so much worse." She shifted then rolling over onto her stomach, her arms under her head.

"What does this place remind you of?" he asked her in a quiet voice.

"A big, ugly, gray building?" she replied facetiously.

"Okay. I can't argue with that. But what else?" He knew she probably wouldn't make the connection. There was no reason for her to. No reason for her to feel trapped by the small hallways, tiny rooms, the barred windows. He closed his eyes and shuddered.

Even with her shields strengthened against a school full of hormonal teens, he still got through to her and his misery was a palpable presence on her heart. She went over the little she remembered from the dreams. Small rooms. Noise. Fear. Bars. "It reminds you of prison, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." was all he said as he slumped a bit where he sat.

"Ah, Dare." She slithered down the branch onto one a bit lower. One where she could easily reach out to touch him, comfort him when he was ready for it. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He lifted his head to look at her. "You have no idea what you are asking." His voice was hard, full of anger.

"You're right. I don't know." She leaned back against the trunk stretching out her legs along the branch. "But I do know that if you don't talk about it, the nightmares are just going to get worse, and that will screw both of us up. We're trying to help these kids remember?"

Damn. He knew she was right. It had gotten bad enough that today he'd nearly had a panic attack when the door to his room had gotten stuck. He could feel his heart start pounding at the memory and he had to force himself to relax before he began to quicksilver unwittingly. When he had calmed somewhat, had regained his voice, he muttered, "It's not pretty. I've tried to forget it."

Alyx didn't move. Tried not to even breathe so that he wouldn't feel any more uncomfortable than his own mind and heart would make him. It was a struggle for him, she could feel it. She could almost see the images in his mind, could feel his frustration at wanting to express them and being completely unable to.

"Damn it" he growled. He pulled his knees up and rested his forehead on them, feeling decidedly frustrated. After a couple of minutes he felt her sidle up next to him, one arm going around his shoulders, her face coming down near his. She didn't say anything. Just let her presence be felt. It took several more minutes but he finally calmed himself enough to turn and look at her. "It's... I..."

"Don't worry about it. You don't have to tell me." She moved in close and kissed him quickly.

"It will change things," he informed to her.

She arched an eyebrow. "And?"

He sat back up. "It's not one of the better experiences in my life."

"I got that much from the dreams," she said dryly. "Just talk. What is it you always say? We'll work it out?"

He nodded slowly. They had worked out quite a lot in the last few weeks. Her leaving to join Arnaud, admittedly not her choice the first time, but after only a couple of weeks home taking off again and ending up back with him. Well, it had been difficult for a while, but they had at least begun to work through it. The last few days here had been the most stable and consistent, personality-wise, that he'd seen her in a long time. Of course, she was posing as a hellion. During the day she was causing as much trouble as possible. But now... now she was just Alyx.

"It was the time I got sent up for fifteen months for a job I didn't do. I'd been framed by a guy I used to lift weights with, Manny Merrick. I ended up in prison with a group that was a bit nastier than I could handle." Alyx had sat back and was just watching him, not pushing, not asking, just listening. This was not something he had ever considered discussing with her. Figuring it was better to protect her from some of the darker things in his life, things he didn't like to remember. "You have no idea what can and does go on, even in a minimum security prison."

She made a face at him. "Give me some credit. I may never have been inside, but that doesn't mean I don't have a very good idea of what goes on." She rolled her shoulders back trying to ease the tension building there. It didn't help much; it wasn't her tension. "I take it you were forced to do some things you didn't like."

"Forced is right. At least at first." He looked off into the canopy of the tree and spent a moment thinking. "I ended up making a bargain that would at least let me get out of there in one piece. Even if I did have to sell part of my soul to do it." He glanced over at her, but she had her eyes closed, her face carefully composed and calm. "You know, all the women I really wanted to be with ended up leaving for one reason or another."

Her eyes popped open at the apparent non sequitur. "I came back."

He moved then and after a bit of rearranging of position he lay with his head on her chest. Her arms wrapped lightly about him. "Yeah, you did, and you've stuck by me through some really weird shit."

"Hey, same here," she commented, resting her cheek against the top of his head. "So what happened?"

"Well, there ain't a whole lot of women in prison, so us 'pretty boys' tend to get tagged for... uh..." He stopped not really wanting to say it aloud. Not wanting to make it real all over again.

"I got the idea." she whispered. "Were you..."

He knew what she meant. "No. I was, let's see... on the giving end rather than the receiving. That was part of the deal I made." He closed his eyes the memories rolling back through his mind. The hate, the anger, the fear. He'd wanted to hide, wanted to just fade away and not be seen, to disappear.

"Shhh," Alyx said. "It's the past."

"Yeah, well, it's haunting me lately," he complained and she chuckled softly. He rolled over so that he was facing out into the darkness again. Her arms settled around his neck. "Don't you have to be back for bed check?"

Alyx laughed. "You mean me being out here with you, Mr. Fawkes, doesn't count as my bed check? C'mon, I'm the bad girl, remember. Missing bed check is about par for the course, don't you think?"

He actually managed to laugh a bit himself. "You're right, as usual."

"And you are avoiding," she observed. "Tell me the rest."

"I'd been out about three months when the guy I'd cut the deal with showed up at my place. He'd managed to get himself a parole. He figured he'd had such a sweet deal on the inside that maybe he could get the same deal on the outside." Darien shuddered. Just the thought of the guy made his skin crawl. "The guy wouldn't leave me alone. Drove me nuts for over six months."

"So what did you do?" she asked him, holding him a bit closer.

"I ashamed to say I ended up beating the crap out of him before he was convinced that not only was I not interested, but that I wanted no part of seeing him ever again." He sighed and rubbed her arms with his hands. "The moment I walked into this damn school I... I've tried so hard to forget all that. Forget a lot of things that happened to me in prison."

"You don't have to go through it alone. Whenever you want to talk, let me know. It'll go no further than us. Promise." She curled herself about him and made sure he knew that she would be there for him.

Suddenly things got real cold. Darien looked down to see that Alyx had vanished. "What's with the ice cube routine?"

"Company," she whispered. "Bloody hell. It's Hobbes."

"Fawkes, you up in that damn tree again?" Hobbes called out aiming a flashlight up into the branches.

Darien sighed and slid out of Alyx's arms to look down at the ground where Hobbes stood. "Yeah, I'm here."

"You and this stupid tree." Hobbes grumbled. "Have you seen the kid? I got find 'em duty and she's the only one still missing."

Alyx snickered and let the quicksilver flake away. "I'm here, Bobby." She stood up and leaned out so that he could see her.

"The two of you. Hurry up and kiss her goodnight, Fawkes. I got to get her back in before they call out the National Guard to look for her." Bobby said turning the light away.

Alyx looked at Darien. "Do we argue with him?"

Darien shook his head. "Hell, no." Then he pulled her into an embrace. He found her lips with his and tried to go slow, but that lasted all of a heartbeat and they quickly found themselves lost to one another yet again.

"Perhaps I should sneak into your room later," she offered after a short eternity had passed.

Darien released a ragged breath. "Don't even think of it."

"Too late," she said, nibbling on his ear. "You wouldn't have any nightmares if I stopped by."

He was very close to giving in completely. "I'm not going to as it is. Hell, I'm probably not going to sleep now."

Bobby solved the problem for them. "Kid, move yer ass."

Alyx laughed. "All right, all right. I'm coming."

Darien gave her an odd look and she rolled her eyes. "Dirty mind."

She gave him one last kiss and began to climb down. "Oh, I may have a lead. I'll know more tomorrow."

He leaned out looking down at her. "You wait till now to tell me?"

"You needed to talk more than I did, Dare." She paused, balancing carelessly on a branch wider than her waist. "See you in class tomorrow teach."

"Night, Alyx." he replied quietly. Good lord, he wasn't going to have to worry about sleep tonight. If he did mange to drift off there would be only one thing on his mind. Her.

"What's up Hobbes?" Alyx queried when she reached the ground. "They don't start looking for strays for another hour yet."

He cleared his throat and shuffled his feet for a moment. "It's Fawkes. He's been having nightmares."

"I know. Gods, do I know." Alyx said rubbing her forehead. "It should be better tonight. We talked a bit about it."

He nodded. "And that goodnight kiss'll probably help as well." He was trying not to laugh.

"Cute Hobbesy. Real cute." She punched him lightly in the arm. "I told Darien I might have found something. I'll check into it tomorrow."

Hobbes nodded. "You better go sneak back in. I'll get nature boy out of the tree."

"Night Hobbes." She kissed him on the cheek and then scampered off, quicksilvering as she ran.

Hobbes shook his head and aimed the light back up into the tree. "C'mon monkey-man. Get your ass down here."

"Yes, Hobbesy." Darien laughed as he began to climb back down. When he got to the ground he looked at his partner. "Weird, huh?"

"You said a mouthful, my friend. A mouthful."

Alyx made her way back to her room without a problem. Frances was already asleep, curled up around the stuffed bunny that her dad had given her when she was very young. Alyx sighed. Frances didn't know it, but her parents were on the list of those being blackmailed. That was at least part of the reason why Callie had made a point of befriending her. In fact, Callie had made a point of befriending all of the girls who were victims and it had worked out pretty well. All the girls were pretty tough already, Callie just made sure that each of them knew their true strengths and value. When this was over they would need those strengths to deal with the knowledge of what had happened.

With a sigh Alyx spent a moment savoring the kiss she had shared with Darien just a short time ago, which of course led to thoughts of other things she'd like to do with him up in that tree. Ah, damn. Now she wasn't going to sleep either.

She let her thoughts slide away from Darien, away from herself, and back to those of a sixteen-year-old who had a half-day of school on the morrow. Who right now was out of blinking toothpaste for some reason.

Callie grabbed Frances' tube, knowing she wouldn't mind sharing, and brushed her teeth. She rinsed out her mouth and put away the toothbrush. Ran her comb through her hair. Turned off the bathroom light, intending to lie down on her bed for a while, when the world suddenly spun and did a fast dip to the right. She didn't even notice when the floor jumped up to hit her in the head.

"Callie? Wake up Callie. You're scaring me." Frances sounded very frightened. She'd woken up feeling ill and found Callie lying on the floor of the room. "Callie, please. Wake up!" She shook her roommate and was relieved to hear her moan. "Ah, god, Callie. C'mon, wake up for me."

Callie moaned again, reality slowly intruding on her mind. A reality that hurt. She jerked upright and away from Frances. The entire room seemed to swerve and dip about her.

"Callie?" Frances sounded so scared, was so scared.

It hurt. Her touch, her thoughts, her emotions. Alyx/Callie swallowed hard and tried to shield and realized in horror that she was shielded. It was probably the only reason Frances hadn't run screaming from the room. Alyx/Callie was somehow not broadcasting her own feelings and thoughts, but was picking up all of them from those nearby. Thankfully most everyone was asleep.

"F... F... Frankie go get Mr. Fawkes," she managed to get out, past the nausea and the emotions and the movement of the room.

"Why?" Frances asked confused.

"He's a friend of my father's." Alyx/Callie forced out. "Please. Get him."

Frances nodded and got to her feet, running from the room.

Alyx/Callie held her head in her hands and tried to stop the spinning, the voices, the emotions. She whimpered and backed up into the corner between the foot of her bed and the wall.

"Ah, hurry Frankie. Hurry."

Darien groaned. Who the hell would be knocking on his damn door at... he looked at the clock... four am? The knocking came again louder this time.

"Please, Mr. Fawkes, Callie told me to get you," the voice whimpered from the other side of the door. He recognized it as Frances, Alyx's roommate.

He rushed to the door and flung it open. "What did you say?"

The girl grabbed his hand and began tugging on it babbling at him at the same time. "I woke up and found her on the floor of our room."

Darien allowed himself to be pulled along as she continued to tell him what little she knew.

"She wouldn't wake up and then she did and she said to get you. Hurry please." Frances was damn near panicking, and she was normally a very levelheaded kid.

"Yeah, hurry would be good." They both took off at a run for her room.

Frances let Darien go in first and he found Alyx huddled in on herself at the foot of her bed. He went to knees next to her, afraid to touch her at first. "Callie?" He remembered to use the name just in time.

Her head snapped up and she blinked her eyes at him a couple of times. "D... D... Dare?"

"Yeah," He reached out and took one of her hands. He'd seen this a couple of times before when her control crashed. "What happened?"

She flung herself at him. Using him as a focus. "Drugged. I'm picking up everything. It hurts."

"Easy. Focus on one thing. You can do it." He kept his voice down so that Frances wouldn't overhear.

Alyx swallowed and took a deep breath trying to focus, but it was difficult with the drug in her system. "I told Frankie you knew my 'dad'," she whispered in his ear.

"No problem. You said you were drugged?" He moved her back slightly so he could look at her. Her eyes were indeed dilated and shehad started to shake in reaction.

"Toothpaste. Have Claire check for a pharmacological, not a synthetic." The voices were intruding again.

Darien turned to Frances. "Go get Hobbes."

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded and took off.

"Alyx, focus on me," he told her. "You're not making sense."

"The drug is in the toothpaste. I was fine until then." She moved closer to him again. "Think about it, Dare. How easily the girls were drugged. They brush their teeth at night and go to bed. They wake up ill and remember nothing."

Darien nodded it made sense and it wouldn't take much. "It must've hit you faster and harder because of your screwy metabolism."

She nodded and regretted it immediately. This time he felt what she was experiencing. "Easy." Gently he picked her up and moved her to the bed.

Hobbes showed up then. "Fawkes, what the devil is going on?"

"Frankie, wait downstairs please," Darien requested of her. He gave the girl credit; she nodded and left without an argument.

"Fawkes?" Hobbes was a bit confused.

"Grab the toothpaste from the bathroom and send it off to the Keeper. Ask her to test it for drugs." Darien said moving over to him. "Alyx says that's the delivery method, but she can't tell us much more 'cause it's screwing with her head."

"You mean she got hit with it?" Hobbes asked, as he moved into the bathroom and grabbed the tube of toothpaste off the counter.

"Yeah. I'm going to move her down to the infirmary." Darien shrugged. "It might help."

"What about her roommate?" Hobbes was not overly fond of loose ends.

"Alyx told her I was a friend of her dad's." Darien answered. "That should do for now."

"She's thinking, at least." Hobbes nodded. "I'll have someone out here to pick this up within the hour." He moved over to Alyx, who was not enjoying the way the room was still swaying about her. "You'll be fine, kid. Good work."

"Thanks, Bobby," She managed through clenched teeth. "Get me out of here, Dare."

Darien picked her up again and Bobby took off for his room to make his phone call. Darien carried Alyx down to the infirmary, which was located between some of the administrative offices and the teacher's side of the building on the ground floor. Frances saw him and followed. Even opened the doors for him.

She rushed to get a damp cloth for her friend, which Darien placed on Alyx's forehead.

"Should I get the nurse?" she asked the man she knew as her teacher, Mr. Fawkes.

He shook his head. "You should go back to bed, Frances."

"I'd just worry. Let me stay please?" She nearly begged.

"Okay, but you need to remain calm, for her." He did that little head dip and looked at her. The girl was very smart.

"Sure." She sat down on the next bed over and watched as he brushed a stray curl of hair off Callie's face. He was confusing the heck out of her. Callie had said he was a family friend, but the look he was giving her was more than just that of a friend.

"Who is she really?" Frances asked suddenly after being quiet for nearly fifteen minutes.

Alyx/Callie opened her eyes and looked at Frances. "Someone who is trying to help." She pushed herself into a seated position. "Ah gods. Too many minds in too small an area. Can't separate them."

Frances looked stunned.

"Focus." Darien said quietly. He'd run through the exercises she had taught him. The ones that kept his mind calm and quiet even when he wanted to run screaming around the room. Kevin and then the Keeper had spent months teaching him meditation and biofeedback so that he could control the gland. Alyx spent ten minutes showing him how to ground and center and his control had increased threefold. Now one side of her control was gone. She wasn't broadcasting, by some miracle, but she was picking up everything.

"Stop fighting it," he suggested to her. "Just let it flow past."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "Dare. They have to be using the kitchen to make the stuff. I found the herb they could make this with in the garden, but preparation would take hours."

"Alyx, damn, Callie, don't worry about it now," Darien told her, wanting to kick himself over the slip.

Frances looked from Darien to Callie and then back again. "What's going on here?"

"Later, Frankie. I promise." Alyx/Callie stuck the heel of her hand to her forehead. "When I have my own mind back." She leaned forward against Darien's shoulder and he wrapped his arms about her.

"Hush. Stop fighting it. Let it pass without remembering," he reiterated quietly. He looked over at Frances, who was obviously thinking.

"I can check out the kitchen if you like. They must be making a tisane to achieve a decent strength. Maybe even covering the scent with..."

Alyx/Callie lifted her head. "Mint. The herb garden has a ton of mint and the kitchen always smells like it."

Darien yawned and ran his hand through his hair. He was sitting in a chair next to Alyx, holding her hand lightly. She had eventually fallen into an uneasy slumber, as had Frances on the next bed over. He had finally convinced her that it was too dangerous for her to go snooping around the kitchen. Hobbes had come in an hour or so ago to inform Darien that the package was on its way back to the Keep in San Diego. If they were lucky they'd know something by later this afternoon. Then they had discussed whether it would be worth the trouble to start searching the kitchen and few rooms upstairs that had cooking facilities. They decided to wait, considering the school would be waking within an hour at most. Hard to snoop with people around.

Darien had stayed with the girls and Hobbes had gone back to his room to get dressed for the day. They still had a day of classes to get through.

It was a little after six thirty when the school nurse walked out into the main area and found the threesome. She hurried over shaking her head. "Mr. Fawkes you should have woken me."

Both Callie and Frances woke at the sound of her voice.

"Oy vey. Hangover city," Callie complained with real discomfort in her voice.

"You okay, Callie?" Frances asked from where she sat.

"Ummm. I think so? Why am I in the infirmary?" Callie looked around in confusion.

"You don't remember?" Darien asked her.

She started to shake her head and then paused. "Something about toothpaste?"

He nodded and squeezed her hand. The nurse frowned at the action, but said nothing. Something was going on here that she didn't quite understand. "Mr. Fawkes, perhaps I should examine her."

"No," Callie stated, swinging her feet off the bed and standing up. "But you can draw a blood sample from me and from Frankie."

The nurse was taken aback by the self-assuredness of the girl. She blinked, and for an instant the girl was transformed into a woman who knew exactly what she was doing. Then she blinked again and the young girl was back, waiting patiently for her to respond.

"Yes. That might be a good idea." The nurse said. "Follow me."

Callie turned to Frankie. "Do you trust me?"

The girl wasn't sure if her voice would work, so she simply nodded and followed.

Darien went along as well. "You sure you're okay, Callie?"

She nodded. In a whisper she said, "Can you get these samples to the Keep?"

"I'll arrange it," he said.

The nurse looked at him with a frown. "This really isn't appropriate Mr. Fawkes."

"Special circumstances," he informed her.

"He knows her dad," Frances added as she sat down to have the blood drawn.

"Really?" The nurse asked, turning to Callie who nodded.

"Really."

"All right, I suppose, but next time, Mr. Fawkes, I would recommend a bathrobe at least," she said to him with a hint of a smile.

Frances giggled. She hadn't really minded what he'd been wearing. A pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top. Of course, she hadn't really noticed until now; she'd been too worried about Callie before.

Darien just sighed. "Right. Next time."

Callie claimed the shower first, and Frances waited as patiently as she could for her roommate to come out. She had dozens of questions running through her mind, but she was pretty sure Callie, if that was even her real name, wouldn't answer any of them. She was going to try anyway.

"All yours," Callie said as she came out of the bathroom in her robe, toweling her hair. "Thank god I only have a half day today."

"Who is Alyx?" Frances hoped that question would be the one to get her talking.

Callie froze. "I don't know what you mean."

"Mr. Fawkes called you Alyx." Frances said sitting down on her bed. "And you called him Dare, I believe."

Callie began pulling clothes out of her bureau and tossing them on her bed. "You must be mistaken."

Frances snorted. "Gimme some credit. I couldn't forget about last night if I wanted to."

Alyx sighed. "Outside this room, I am no one but Callie. Understand?"

Frances nodded. "Sure. Whatever you say. Now spill."

Alyx dropped her robe and began to pull on the horrid school uniform. Frances got a look at her back and realized for the first time that Callie/Alyx had made a point up until now of never dressing in front of her. The scar on her back was probably a good part of why.

"What happened to you?" Her voice was hushed.

"I took an assassin's bullet, oh, a little over six months ago." Alyx answered as she pulled on the shirt and began to button it.

Frances' mind spun. Callie might have one heck of an imagination, but that scar. What she had overheard earlier. "Wh... You... I'm confused," she finally admitted.

Alyx laughed. "If you weren't, I'd be worried." She sat down on her bed and pulled on her socks and then her boots. "You already know more than you should. Look, I'm here to help. There's something going on around here. I'm trying to find out what and stop it." She got to her feet, smoothing out the skirt. "I hate skirts."

Frances laughed. "That would explain the bike shorts you always wear underneath."

"True. You offered to help earlier. Still willing?" Alyx asked her.

Frances nodded.

"I won't lie, this is dangerous. Remember Misty Carmichael?" Frances nodded. "Her death was not an accident."

"Some.... some of us guessed that," Frances admitted. "What do you want me to do?" She sounded just a bit frightened, which was good as far as Alyx was concerned.

"Nothing difficult. No one has been sick the last couple of weeks until us last night. Who hasn't been here at the school the last couple of weeks and who might be able to cook up the little surprise?" Alyx laid out the basics for Frances. "They would also need access to the dorm rooms and the supply rooms."

"Why the supply rooms?" Frances asked sounded a bit lost.

"To swap the toothpaste. You don't want to leave the drugged one for the morning. Be kinda obvious if the girls were passing out during breakfast or first class." Alyx answered.

"You're right." she agreed, nodding her head. "But what about checking out the kitchen?"

"Listen to me. I know the risks and have the skills to deal with any problems. You don't." She placed a hand on her shoulder. "No snooping, no sneaking, no playing Harriet the Spy. Use that exceptional mind of yours and help me narrow the choices. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Callie," She was almost afraid to ask the question, but she had to know. "Was any of it real or was it all an act."

"Ah, Frankie it was as real as it could be. I am your friend. I'm just not your peer," Alyx explained in a soft voice.

"I understand." Frances looked at the friend she wasn't sure she knew any more and decided it didn't matter who she really was. Callie, Alyx, whoever she was, had become a friend and still was. "So, how long have you been going with Mr. Fawkes?" To her amazement, Callie blushed almost as red as her hair.

"Frankie!" Then they both burst out laughing. It was going to be all right.


	3. Chapter 3

*Part 3*

Darien caught up with Hobbes during his lunch. Hobbes was running a group of girls through some basic karate moves with varying degrees of success. Darien waited until he had a chance to come over.

"What's up, Fawkes?" Hobbes asked, keeping one eye on the girls.

"The results from the tests came in and Alyx was right. The toothpaste was drugged. They took the blood samples from Callie and Frances back with them." Darien said quietly.

"Great. What do we do, tell all the kids not to brush their teeth tonight? We still have no fricking idea who is doing this." Hobbes complained. "Astor, get that right up," he barked at one of the girls.

"I'll try and catch up with Callie and see about doing some snooping later. Now that we have a place to start." Darien looked out over the group and frowned.

"The kid might have to start doing that mind-reading trick of hers." Hobbes wasn't smiling either. "I don't want any more kids hurt."

"Tell me about it. Who do you think they were after last night? Callie, or Frances again?" Darien asked his partner.

"Does it matter? They didn't succeed this time. Maybe they'll screw up again and we'll catch them." Hobbes muttered thinking. "Who's got keys to all the rooms?"

"I don't know," Darien answered. "But since I'm done for the day, I'll go find out."

"Go easy on the gland there," Hobbes admonished him.

"No worries. As a friend of Callie's dad, I had some of her special allergy medication delivered." Darien said this with a straight face. "Thought we might need it."

"Fawkes, sometimes you almost impress me." He looked back at the girls. "Astor how many times do I have to tell you about yer right." He walked off towards the cause of his dismay.

Darien wasn't sure who he felt more sorry for -- the girls or Hobbes, who had to deal with the giggling horde of female teenagers. Darien noticed that at least half of the girls were currently staring dreamily at him from across the gym, so he decided now would be a good time for a strategic retreat. Time to go try his charm on some of the office staff to get the info he wanted.

He stuck his head into the back office and saw Ginny sitting behind her computer, chewing absentmindedly on a pencil. She was pretty in her own quiet way and he was aware that she, like most of the female population here, tended to turn into jell-o when he walked into a room. He was planning on using that to his advantage now.

"Hey Ginny." He sat on the edge of her desk and smiled down at her. It had the desired effect.

She looked up at him and her look went from consternation to a brilliant smile. "Hi, Mr. Fawkes. What can I do for you?"

"You mean besides just being yourself?" He watched as she blushed. "Apparently some of my info is in the system wrong and was wondering if you'd let me borrow a computer to fix it." He did those innocent eyes that most fell for, but made Alyx burst out laughing most times these days.

"Sure," she mumbled, unable to meet his eyes. She got up and waved him over to one of the other computers. She keyed in her password information and accessed the necessary files. "Just key in your name and code number and then you can call up the information you need."

He sat down in the chair. "Thanks Ginny. And call me Darien, remember?"

She blushed again. "Yes Mr. ... Darien. Let me know if you need any help." She moved back over to her desk and, after glancing shyly over at him a couple of times, returned to her work.

Darien looked at the screen where it was asking for his name and personal code. After glancing over at Ginny to make sure she was doing her work and not eyeing him, he keyed in a back door access code Alyx had taught him that should work for this system. One of these days he'd have to ask her where she'd learned to do this stuff. The computer thought for a moment and then gave him complete access. He began a search and came up with a list of ten names which, after a quick search for pen and paper, he wrote down. Then he had another thought and ran a second search, which gave him three names all of whom were on the first list.

Interesting.

He backed out to the main screen and keyed in an other code that canceled the effects of the first. He got to his feet and stuffed the paper in his pocket.

"Everything okay, Darien?" Ginny asked him.

"It is now, thanks to you. Had some numbers reversed is all. Explains why I teach Lit. and not Trig." He gave her one of those shy smiles and she dipped her head.

"See you at dinner?" She sounded so hopeful.

"Got kitchen duty, sorry." He shrugged.

"Oh, shame. Well, see you around." She turned back to her screen, only slightly disappointed.

"Thanks again," he said as he walked out the door. He liked the fact that he could still pull out the charm and get what he wanted. Heck, a few more well placed sentences and he could have had Ginny, probably right on her desk. He could have, but he also liked the fact that he didn't really want to. He'd rather try and charm Alyx into a similar position, which tended to be a challenge. Alyx usually didn't fall for his charm, at least not unless she wanted to. She definitely kept him on his toes.

Speaking of Alyx, he wondered how she was doing.

Callie and Frances had met out at The Tree. Instead of climbing up into the main part of the tree, which was swarming with girls, they were sitting out in the foliage of one of the lower hanging branches. They usually got ignored for places to sit simply because they were so close to the ground, but they were the best place to hide. The branches were just as thick but there were a lot more leaves to hide one's location. So long as they talked quietly no one would know where they were.

"Hey Callie. How are you feeling?" Frances asked as she settled herself comfortably along one of the branches.

Callie was lying sprawled along another branch, one leg swinging free and her eyes closed with her hands behind her head. "Well my balance is back finally, but I still have a headache that no amount of aspirin can touch. How did your report go?"

The girl practically bounced the entire branch. "Wonderful. Mr. Fawkes even laughed. How'd you know I'd do comedy so well?"

"You never listen to yourself when you insult someone do you?" Callie said raising her head and opening her eyes to look at her. She then proceeded to repeat a conversation from several days before where Frankie had proceeded to put another, much older girl in her place with a few well placed phrases that had gone right over the very self-centered girl's head. By the time Callie was done, Frankie was blushing bright red.

"I didn't realize," she managed to say.

"Your tongue could be considered a dangerous weapon. You look so sweet and innocent, but get you riled and you can flay a person alive with ten words or less." Callie shrugged. "I just figured you'd do comedy just as well. Your flair for timing is exquisite."

"Thank you," Frankie responded quietly.

"No problem. Now, to business. Any ideas on potential suspects?" She suddenly sounded far more like Alyx than Callie. Frankie could tell the difference now.

"A couple. Not many have the access needed. I really don't think it's Headmistress Adams, for example." Frankie dug in her backpack and pulled out a list she made and handed it to Callie. "I don't know all of these people well. Like Miss Devers, Head of Housekeeping; I recognize her and say 'hi' when I see her, but she works mostly behind the scenes."

Sitting up, Callie looked over the list. "Good work. Which ones weren't here until this week?"

"I marked them with an asterisk. There are only four, but only two really have the skill to make that tisane. I think, anyway." Frankie scooted closer to Callie to point at the list.

"Mr. Ishandra, the head cook. Yes, I bet he does." Callie spoke mostly to herself.

"He's always making that mint tea for the girls who get stomachaches," Frances commented. "Heck, I've drunk it the mornings I've felt ill. I'd really hate for it to be him, he's such a sweetie."

"I know. I can't really see him doing something like this. He loves cooking too much." Callie also knew from looking at his records that he'd learned to cook when he was in prison. He had happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up being convicted of manslaughter. He spent his time working in the prison kitchen and when he'd gotten out he'd gone to cooking school to improve his skills. He'd been hired here two years ago and everyone in the administration thought he was wonderful, a definite asset to the school. The only hitch was that, most likely through coincidence only, the granddaughter of the judge who presided over his trial attended the school. She was one of the affected students, but the grandfather was not the one being blackmailed.

"He loves us girls too much," Frankie added. "Oh, not like that. Like we're all his daughters or something. He makes special meals for those with allergies. Special treats for those who've done well on a test. Stuff like that." It was obvious she'd been a recipient of some of those treats herself.

Callie nodded. "I understand. Who is this Mrs. Greenwood? I haven't had her for any classes."

"She's new this year. Teaches the Comparative Religions course, and I do mean religions. I had the course last year with Mr. Kirkland, but he retired after getting sick. She was his assistant for about six months the end of last year." Frankie paused, thinking. "I do know she made some additions to the herb garden, and I've heard she has a collection of plants and herbs in her room as well."

Callie shrugged. "That doesn't necessarily mean anything. The herb that I think is being used is a fairly innocent one. It's used as a homeopathic pain killer."

Frankie gave her an odd look.

"Let's just say I have experience in having to deal with pain. Used to grow it myself as a homemade painkiller." She paused, thinking. "The only reason I know it can be used as a potent sedative and hallucinogenic drug is because I had reason to use it as such recently."

Frankie shook her head. "It still amazes me that you are not who you look like, who I've come to know."

"Frankie, right now Callie is as much me as any other persona. My head is so screwed up that being Callie for the last three weeks has actually helped. Everything inside is the same, it's just the outside presentation that varies. Well, that and my temper, but being here has helped that quite a bit as well." That was Alyx talking to the girl. "My job requires me to be a lot of different things at different times. Some days it's easy to get lost and forget who I am."

Frankie looked at her in silence for several minutes. "What happened? If you can tell me that is?" She was smart enough to realize that whoever, whatever Callie really was that she couldn't be allowed to know. Not yet anyway.

"Oof. Ask a simple one next time." Callie thought for a moment. "I guess the closest comparison would be someone with multiple personalities, except that they were all me. I was split based more on emotion and attitude." Callie took a deep breath. "One moment I'd be fine, the next angry or arrogant. I had no real control over how I would act. I'd react more than anything."

Frances was nodding. "You're still like that a little."

Callie sighed. "I know. I'm still recovering, but I was needed. And you have no idea how easy it is to just let myself go. What a fight it is to stay the me I want to be." Her voice dropped to a near whisper. "Thank god Darien finally showed."

"Mr. Fawkes? I mean, it's kinda obvious that you two are..." She trailed off in embarrassment.

"I _am_ older than I look." Callie said with a smile, hoping to ease the girl's mind.

"I got that. It explains a lot. But what's so special about him? He's just a guy." Frankie was truly curious about why one guy could mean so much.

Alyx shook her knowing there was very little chance that she could explain that Darien was not 'just a guy'. No to her, anyway. "Early on in our relationship -- heck we were barely friends at the time --something odd happened to us. He and I became permanently connected, in here." She tapped the side of her head. Crap, this was just going to confuse the girl. "It's not something I was expecting, and he doesn't know about it, but it's there."

"You're joking, right? Stuff like that doesn't really happen." Frances was shaking her head in dismay, wondering if Callie was playing a trick or just off her rocker. "Like love at first sight. It's just a myth."

"For some it is." Callie agreed. "But some people have gifts that let them see, do, and be just a bit more. As you should well know."

Frankie swallowed hard. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."

Alyx, not Callie, reached out and laid a hand on her arm. *_Are you sure about that_?*

Frances twitched but didn't pull away. "I can't do _that_."

Alyx chuckled. "I know."

"You won't tell anyone will you?" She truly sounded frightened.

"Are you? Going to tell? About me, that is," Alyx asked, lifting her hand away.

"No way. It's not like anyone would believe me anyhow." Frankie managed a smile. "It is kinda nice to know that I'm not the only freak out there."

"Frankie, my dear, you have no idea. No idea at all." Alyx lay back down on the branch. "Now, in your expert opinion, who is our troublemaker?"

"Fawkes, I thought you were getting the kid?" Hobbes complained to his unaccompanied partner.

"I know Hobbes. They weren't in their room. They must have discovered something and gone to check into it." He shrugged. "Do you want to look for them or start checking out this list?"

"The kid won't let the kid get hurt." He paused and shook his head. "You know what I mean. We'll probably run into her later."

"Yeah. Let's start with the cook." Darien said heading to the kitchen.

"Why?" Hobbes asked following.

"'Cause I don't think he's doing it," Darien answered. "Might as well eliminate those we can."

"Good enough, partner."

"Frankie, is there a computer with both mainframe and outside connections that isn't in the office?" Callie asked while she lay on the bed with her legs against the wall and her head hanging off upside down.

"Ummm. Yeah, actually. It's back in the library over on the teacher's side. I discovered it had mainframe access by accident. Why?" Frankie was suddenly very curious.

"I need to do a little background check is all." Callie explained, rolling off the bed onto her hands and knees. Reaching under her bed she pulled out a duffel bag she had stuffed under there.

"What you got there?" Frankie moved to look over Callie's shoulder.

"My working clothes." Callie plopped the bag on her bed and began to pull out all black clothing.

Frankie's eyes widened. "What are you, a cat burglar?"

Callie laughed. "Only on occasion. Black is better for sneaking around." She looked Frankie up and down. "Here. Throw these on. They should stretch enough to fit you."

Frankie caught the clothes Callie tossed to her. "You're letting me come along?"

"You were going to follow me anyway. I'd rather I knew where you were in case of trouble." she answered.

Frankie nodded and began to change.

When Alyx finished dressing she looked over at Frankie and whistled. "Kid, you should wear black more often." Realizing what she'd just said, Alyx blinked and sighed. "Great now I'm channeling Bobby Hobbes."

Frankie examined herself critically in the mirror and was actually impressed with the way she looked. The tight fitting black slacks and zippered high-necked top actually brought out what little color she had and set off her pale blue eyes quite nicely against her black hair. "I think you might be right."

Alyx checked the area for patrolling adults and found the way clear. "Lead the way, Frankie. I want this over with tonight if at all possible."

"Yes, boss." Frankie said giving a mock salute.

A few minutes later they were at the computer and Alyx switched it on. "Frankie I need you to watch my back. What I'm going to do requires a lot of concentration. Disturbing me would be bad." Frankie frowned. "If something happens but it isn't an emergency, touch my right shoulder. Touch my left if it's an emergency. Do not disturb me otherwise." She waited for Frankie to respond.

"Got it, but what are you going to do?" she asked.

"Use a shortcut." Alyx answered turning back to the computer. Settling herself she reached out with her mind and dove into the computer system. She began with Frankie's guess for the blackmailer and accessed personnel records and from there bank records, credit records, police records. It was the police reports that caught her attention. The name was different, of course, but the face was familiar, as was that of her accomplice. Alyx then accessed the information on her and found the connections she wanted. Compiling the data into one rather large file, she sent it off to Eberts, who would know exactly what to do with it.

Pulling herself out of the system, she realized she'd been in a good fifteen minutes longer than she had planned. Frankie was staring at her.

"Y... your..." She swallowed. "Your eyes were glowing." The poor girl was shaking.

"Ah, crap. Sorry about that." Alyx sat down on the floor. "Would Misty have any reason to know Ginny Harcort in the office?"

Frankie got a hold of herself, and nodded. "Misty was real good with computers and helped out on her days off. Why?"

Alyx sighed. "Ginny handles all the supply ordering and she's known Mrs. Greenwood for years."

"Miss Ginny? But she's so sweet." Frankie sounded shocked. Which was as it should have been. But then her look changed. "It's right though. That's why I wasn't so sure about Mrs. Greenwood. There were two of them."

Alyx nodded. "I've sent the proof I could find off to my boss. Now I need to find Darien and Bobby and tell them." Alyx got to her feet. "Go back to the room Frankie. I'll come see you later."

"No," Frankie argued. "You can use my help."

Alyx shook her head. "This is where it gets really dangerous. Ginny most likely killed Misty because of what she found in the computer system. I don't want you hurt."

"Alyx." Frankie used her real name for the first time. "You told me to trust my talent. I'm saying I can help."

Alyx tipped her head to the side looking at the girl then nodded. "You do what I say, when I say. No arguments. And save any questions until later."

Not wanting to give Alyx a reason to change her mind, she only nodded.

"C'mon. We'll head to Greenwood first." Alyx led the way to the stairs and they headed up.

"Fawkes are you sure you want to do this?" Hobbes whispered to the man he couldn't see beside him.

"She's the only one left. Do you want to wait another night?" Darien snapped back.

"All right. Let's hope she's not asleep." Hobbes lifted his hand to knock when the door was flung open and Mrs. Greenwood stepped out the door swinging a metal baseball bat.

Hobbes jumped back with an "Oh, shit."

She swung anyway, but instead of Hobbes she connected with Darien's ribs. This surprised her far more than it did him. He'd seen Alyx jump in the way enough times, he just hadn't realized how much it would hurt. The woman had a full head of steam on.

It took her a moment to recover, but she did and pulled the bat back for a second swing. "I told her you were cops." She swung again, still aiming for Hobbes who was pushed back against the banister. This time she got Darien's arm as he put it out to protect himself. The snap of the bone breaking could be heard down the hall.

"Son of a bitch," Alyx shouted as she got to the top of the stairs. Halfway down she watched as Darien appeared from thin air and fell to the floor holding his arm. His pain echoed back through to her, making her own arm ache in sympathy.

Mrs. Greenwood lifted the bat to swing at him again as Bobby moved to protect his partner. Alyx settled the matter by yanking the bat from the woman's hand and into her own, then shoving the woman backwards, back into the wall, knocking her unconscious.

Frankie swallowed hard and closed her eyes on what she had just seen. '_Later_.' she told herself. '_I'll ask later_.'

Alyx slowly walked over to where Darien was, trying to keep her anger in check. Frankie followed a few steps behind.

Once Darien had assured Hobbes he was well enough, Hobbes turned to Mrs. Greenwood to see if she was even alive. She was. Was even coming to already. He pulled out his cuffs and handcuffed the woman before she woke completely.

Alyx dropped the bat and knelt down next to Darien. Carefully she lay her hand on his arm and began to check it.

"Should I get Nurse Cratchett?" Frankie asked.

"No, kid." Hobbes said dragging the semi-conscious Greenwood to her feet. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"It was bring her or have her follow." Alyx snapped turning slightly to look at him. "Did you want me to tie her to her bed?"

It was obvious by her tone that she was just barely holding on to herself.

"Easy," Darien soothed, his voice echoing his pain.

"Well, it's not a bad break anyway." Alyx commented after her initial examination.

Darien managed a strained laugh. "Right. All this pain is just for the fun of it."

"Wuss." Alyx teased with a touch of humor in her voice. "It's a clean break and it didn't tear the muscle too badly." She met his eyes. "I can dull the pain if you like. We still have work to do."

"What's left, besides finding the drug itself?" Hobbes asked from inside the room where he was securing Greenwood.

Frankie answered. "Miss Ginny was part of it. She killed Misty."

The guys looked at Alyx for confirmation. "Yup. They've run a similar con before. I sent the proof I found off to Eberts just a little while ago. We arrived just in time for you two to get beat up by teach in there."

"Do it, then," Darien ordered. "I need to be functional."

"Try to relax," Alyx said to him. She pressed her forehead lightly on his and followed the path the pain was running along to the specific receptors that were being triggered and essentially numbed them.

Darien sighed as the pain eased. "Thanks."

"It will only last a little while, and if you whack the arm again you'll just re-trigger the pain." Alyx reminded, sitting back on her heels. "You should have limited use of the arm." She had another thought then and quicksilvered the palm of her hand only. She laid it over the break causing Darien to hiss at the sensation of cold. "Keep the swelling down. Just call me ice pack woman."

Hobbes even laughed at that one. Frankie looked a bit bewildered, but she remembered her promise to hold off on the questions. Alyx helped Darien to his feet her hand still over his arm for now.

"It's numb already, Alyx." Darien whined.

"Wuss." Hobbes muttered this time. "Where's Ginny's room?"

"Upstairs." Alyx said. She got this faraway look. "She knows we're coming. She's moving. She's heading down via the back staircase." She came back to herself. "Ginny is in a bad mood."

"Let's move then." Hobbes said. "You gonna make it, Fawkes?"

"I'll show you wuss, Bobby-boy." Darien grumbled as they headed for the staircase.

Alyx and Frankie both started laughing.

"Is it always like this?" Frankie whispered to Alyx.

Alyx shook her head. "Usually they argue more."

Both guys stopped and looked at them. "You know, sending her here may have been a bad idea," Darien commented to Bobby.

"Yeah, letting her get in touch with her _inner teenager_ may not have been the smartest thing the Official has ever done," Bobby responded.

Alyx looked at Frankie, and as one they said, "Poor boys. They'll never understand."

"Fawkes, I think we're in trouble," Hobbes said as he continued down the stairs.

"Bobby, they're female. Of course we're in trouble," Darien replied with a smile, following his partner.

"Wow, they can learn," Frankie said with a snicker.

They caught up with Ginny out in the garden. Alyx was right, she was not in a good mood. In fact she had a gun and as soon as they appeared she fired at them. Alyx managed to deflect the bullet into one of the classroom windows. Alyx then grabbed the gun with her mind and tried to pull it out of the woman's hand, but she was stubborn and held on even to the point of being lifted into the air.

Hobbes ran up and tackled her, causing Alyx to release the gun and allowing them to fall to the ground. Darien quicksilvered and went after her as well, figuring he might get the gun away while she struggled with Hobbes. The idea was sound, until a wild kick from Ginny as she struggled with Hobbes caught Darien on his arm.

The quicksilver fell away and he went dead pale as the pain came surging back.

"Shit!" Alyx swore as the pain hit her, too.

Hobbes found himself on his knees with a gun pointed at his face.

"So, Darien, I take it you only wanted me for my computer skills." She snarled at him. "Those back door codes are traceable if you know how."

Darien looked at Alyx who shrugged.

She gestured at Hobbes with the gun. "On your feet, shorty."

Hobbes complied slowly. "Why does everyone call me shorty?" He complained.

Alyx looked from Hobbes to Darien then she sidled closer to Frankie.

"Poor little Frances. Guess your Daddy got tired of paying to keep you safe." Ginny sneered then she looked at Alyx. "And you, Callie, you had to go and have a reaction. Ruined all our fun." She placed the gun to the side of Hobbes head and her other hand on his shoulder and began to back away with him. "Though I have to wonder what you're doing out here with the cops..."

Alyx looked at Darien, who was slightly green from the pain. He caught her look and nodded. Slowly, he moved into a crouch.

Alyx moved behind Frankie and set and hand on her shoulder. "When I tell you, fall to the ground and stay there," she whispered.

Frankie nodded.

*_Ready Dare_?*

*_As much as I can be_,* he replied, his mind voice red with pain.

Alyx counted. *_One... Two... Three... Now, Frankie._* She quicksilvered herself and Frankie, who dove to the ground just as planned.

Darien quicksilvered, too, and ran for Ginny, hitting her with his shoulder and knocking her away from Hobbes. As soon as he was far enough away, Alyx went for her and wrestled with her until the gun had been tossed aside and she was on her stomach her arms pulled up behind her back.

Ginny began screaming then, and within minutes the entire school was awake.

The worst was over.

It was late the next morning before Alyx had a chance to relax. Cops and Federal agents were crawling all over the place to tie up the last few loose ends. When the Official and Eberts finally showed up she told them point blank that she was off duty for the next 24 hours and went to join a half-drugged Darien in the infirmary. It was his left forearm that had been broken and he was in a temporary cast until Claire could get a good look at him. Alyx had been the one to do the temporary set to the bone and that had helped with a good bit of the discomfort he'd been feeling, she'd also given him another pain block so that he could get through the preliminaries. Eventually, though, pain and lack of sleep caught up with him and they'd taken him to the infirmary.

Without waking him, Alyx checked his monitor and found six segments red. She got her 'allergy medication' from the nurse and prepared a shot. If Nurse Cratchett wondered why the girl was giving her medication to Mr. Fawkes, she didn't say anything aloud. Somehow she knew she wouldn't understand the answer.

When she was done, Alyx pulled up a chair and sat down next to Darien. Within minutes, she allowed herself to drift off into sleep. The first sleep in a long while that wasn't plagued by dreams that weren't hers.

When Frankie wandered in a little after lunchtime -- she'd been ordered to get some sleep after talking to the police -- she found Darien awake with Alyx tipped over against him. He looked up as she drew near and smiled at her.

"Guess she was tired, huh?" Frankie sat on the next bed over.

"Just a little. She has trouble sleeping most of the time," Darien answered quietly.

"Which is why you shouldn't wake her," Alyx mumbled, snuggling closer to Darien.

"You're going to be leaving soon. Some guys in black suits were packing up your stuff." Frankie sounded a touch sad.

"Yeah, we are." Darien agreed.

Alyx dug into a pocket of her jacket and pulled out a card that she handed to Frankie. "If you want to talk, or in a few years are interested in a job, call me. I can't promise to be immediately available, but I promise I will get in touch as soon as I can."

Frankie turned the card over. It had a couple different numbers and e-mail addresses on it. "I understand. You guys have a bit more to worry about than how to pass trig."

Alyx snorted. "Like you need to worry about that." She sat up. "Are you going to ask?"

Frankie shook her head. "You know, I don't think I need to." She got to her feet. "Good luck, you two, and thanks."

They watched her walk from the room. "Hey, a job offer?" Darien asked Alyx.

Alyx shrugged. "The Official seems to like collecting us freaks. Thought he might be interested in her once she was old enough."

Darien thought about it for a moment. "What exactly is it that she does?"

"Hmmm." Alyx searched for an answer he would understand. "You know how some people claim to be a 'good judge of character'?"

"Yeah." Darien said not sure where she was going with this.

"Well she can judge people. Reads them without realizing it." Alyx chuckled. "I must have driven her talent crazy with conflicting information."

"So she just knows." he commented quietly.

"About other people yes. She still has a blind spot for herself." Alyx looked up at him. "I think she'll have a bit more confidence now. Give her a few years and she'll be formidable." 

Hobbes walked in then. "Okay you two. Boss says you've had enough time to rest, back to work."

Alyx got to her feet and helped Darien up. "What does it take to get a day off around here?" he grumbled to the world in general.

"Let's see, I'm working with my mind half scrambled and you have bruised ribs and a broken arm." Alyx looked up at him. "Do you really want to know?"

That pretty much said it all.

__

"I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision." 

****

Eleanor Roosevelt

Finis


End file.
